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>> this is a special edition of bbc world news america. reporting from washington, i'm kathy kaye. president obama joins campaign workers to dial up support in the final hours. >> we feel we have the votes to win. >> his rival, mitt romney is off to the polls, and then bet -- back to the campaign trail for one final push. >> we are going to steer this countryonk onon to a course that will help the american people have a brighter future. >> and taking a spin back in time, tonight, we will show you how the competitors have stacked up over the years.

welcome to our viewers on public television in america and elsewhere are around the globe. election day is finally here and across the huge country, people are finally casting their ballots. today, neither candidate was taking any chances, mounted a last-minute effort to get us support at the polls. -- to get the best support at the polls. >> this is america, a democracy. this is what it is all about. >> will he stay in power for another four years or be rejected after one term? the president is checking to make sure there is no backsliding from supporters. >> we feel confident that we will win, but it will determine on voter turnout. -- be determined by voter

turnout. i would encourage everyone to participate in this process that people have fought so hard for us to have. >> more than 90 million americans are expected to vote today. all eyes are on the ohio, one of just eight states that could go either way and will decide the election. >> i am not thrilled with either choice, but i will stick with barack. >> we are really sick with what has been going on with the fans in the last four years. >> after america elected its first black president cannot many were filled with hope. >> -- its first black president, many were filled with hope. >> they are trying to rebuild the giant coalition using colder, more technical tactics. they call it the ground game,

masterminded from the chicago headquarters. they target specific groups and urged them to vote early and today, literally drive them to the polls. shawna is one of the 180,000 volunteers helping to get out the obama vote. some supporters got a special call. >> hi, this is barack obama. how are you? [laughter] >> the president is in his hometown to learn his fate, either rejected or given more time to accomplish his goals. >> there was a break with tradition today by mitt romney as he kept campaigning. he was pressing for every vote. >> today, america decides who should lead the country. and has been a long, sometimes dirty campaign, but it comes down to this.

the men and women at the polls to choose the next president, even if you are voting for yourself if the polls are right, then the outcome is too close to call. mitt romney needs every last vote he can get. and there are just a handful of states i could decide the hand -- the outcome of this election. few are more important and ohio. today, he visited the state one last time to rally his supporters and urge them to vote. >> a great day with a great opportunity ahead, but i'm also looking forward to tomorrow. [no audio] >> he made sure there was nothing more he could of done to win.

-- could have done to win. >> the truth is, whoever wins this election, the calendar for the next four years particularly with the economy will be huge. america is struggling to emerge from the worst recession in generations. millions are without jobs and with less money in their pockets. the belief that the future will be better for the next generation is starting to look shaky. this barbershop servers boston's hispanic community, people whose parents came to a land built on immigration and a dream of a better life. >> the economy is very bad for everybody. everybody is waiting for jobs. >> there are some that are optimistic and others that are worried about the future. it is hard out there. a lot of people are homeless.

>> the stage is being set free election night in the romney campaign. in a few hours' time, the polls will close an accounting will begin and the cameras will well. a result should be known later this evening. and then the tough business of running a country that is more divided than ever begins. bbc news in boston. >> a nervous night for mitt romney and barack obama. among the states we're looking at, perhaps none are being watched more closely than ohio and florida. if laura trevelyan is in miami. clyde is in cleveland. let's start with you. have aligned and as long there as they have been everywhere else in the country -- have the lines been as long there as they have been everywhere else in the country? >> they have been pretty long. at about 7:00 this morning, the actual stores open at 6:30

a.m., and there were already 20 people there. and it was a slow trickle. election officials are estimating about 70%, not as high in the previous election. but lorimar, millions have already voted in early voting -- but remember, millions have already voted in early voting in this state. we did see joe biden breeze in to try to shore up the final push for votes. president obama has had a bit of a lead during the last few months and it has tightened in the last few months -- few weeks. unemployment is lower. there are fewer foreclosures. there is a sense of optimism here and that has helped president obama, but it is tight. statistically, is still within the margin of error. we could be in for a long night.

>> i hope not. thanks very much. laura is in miami, florida. florida is again some of the center of the more controversial elements of this process. >> that is right. everyone remembers what happened here in 2000. an incident that declared an automatic recount, and eventually george bush was declared the winner by just 535 votes. one polling station called me this afternoon to say that due to the high turnout of the polling station he was at, they ran out of polling papers. can you imagine that? one thing is for sure, the campaign's -- if the campaign could get the alligators to

vote, i'm sure they would. that would be an extra vote for their side. >> an outbreak of alligator voting. thanks in florida. this contest comes down to the electoral college numbers. jeremy breaks that number down for us. >> the outcome of the election is determined by electoral college votes. each state has a certain number and the winner in that state takes them all. he asked -- you have to try to get up to 270 total to win the u.s. presidential election. here are the totals so far. i will show you the order they were one in the last election. kentucky, louisiana, arkansas, alabama, utah, wyoming and so on.

[no audio] we have a net -- how they look .t the next set of states pip texas has 38 electoral college votes. they are very significant. new jersey, michigan, oregon, washington, those are a bit more difficult to win, win than they did.

this is how they progressed toward 270. the democrats are in the lead with a firm laid. -- a firm lead. colorado has been republican several times in the past. iowa, new hampshire, they might lose. minnesota, remember joe the plumber? the republicans campaigned in pennsylvania on died in 2008. -- on that in 2008. the democrats have won even more states in 2008. indiana could well go back to the republicans. florida fluctuates back-and-

forth. i was always at the center of the fight. -- iowa is always at the center of the fight. what the republicans have to do is win the ones that we just saw and then take back at least one from the group before. in other words, a real opera -- uphill battle for mitt romney. >> joining me to assess the task ahead are two guests. one in virginia and one in philadelphia. governor, let me start with you. do you think he will win tonight? >> i think he will win the electoral college. i do not know about the proper their vote. >> -- the popular vote.

the good news in philadelphia, that is a 1 million vote margin for president obama. it seems to be running ahead of 2008. >> congressman, there seems to be a high turnout in virginia. everybody is watching what will happen there. >> it is closed. i think mitt romney will take it. of all of these close states, met -- obama did the best in virginia four years ago. we like the turnout model today. it is close. we have made a lot of ground since 2008. >> if we look at the american economy and high unemployment, will mitt romney do well? >> it should, if ever body were

voting the economy. but a lot of people vote along race, ethnicity, and cultural status. groups with the highest unemployment rate, african- americans, and young people, they are voting for obama. >> do you think the high turnout among ethnic minorities is what this really is about, as the congressman is suggesting? >> it is not just minorities. there are progressives. there were some that gave president obama, a tremendous vote in 2008. it is also the philadelphia suburbs. governor romney will do better than john mccain did in the suburbs. but governor romney gets hurt by the social issues there, the women's issues there.

there are more than just economic issues. withnk the women's issue the swing voters and independent voters will resonate in a victory for president obama in a state like pennsylvania or ohio or virginia. >> we may end up with barack obama in the white house, democrats hold in the senate, republicans hold in the house. this will be a divided government. does it really matter who wins? >> it does, but this is a status quo election when the president goes over to the house and says, i won, and they say, i 12, -- and they say, we won, too.

it looks like the house is going to stay republican. and the senate compared -- the senate, i think we will know more in just a few hours. but the president is the big enchilada. >> is a very different america tonight? >> no matter who wins, there must be some form of compromise. we have not done it in the last four years. the reason i think there will be is because of the fiscal cliff. we need to solve our deficit and debt crisis quickly. you will not get everyone in the congress. you will not get the far right. there is a compromise in the air with republicans and democrats. i think there is a compromise to

be made. the consequences of stagnation are so great. >> remember, most members, republican and democrat today are worried about primary elections. it is difficult to find leaders that can move them. >> very quickly, 73% of the american people want compromise, even those who are ideologically split. >> that is what they say, but we wonder if they really do. still to come on tonight's program, we will check in with obama and ronnie headquarters. -- and mitt romney headquarters.

in new york and new jersey is a very different polling day. one week after breaking sandy, a polling stations are being set up in many areas. >> election 2012 started cold for karen and john. . and in their basement, flooded by hurricane sandy, is damp and musty. are you thinking about the election? >> is an important in puritan voting is that -- is a part of the american process. -- is an important thing. voting is a part of the american process. >> at a tent, a cardboard sign attached to some voting booths. but i would have voted on a piece of paper and mail it if i had to.

>> it is one week since the big storm throughout the power and crippled vast areas. today, there were dumping of the sewage pipes as the army moved into help. >> considering the devastation here it is a wonder that an election can take place at all. but voters and authorities have been determined to make sure it can go ahead. >> in most areas it was business as usual. pacquiao on its feet pretty much in manhattan. -- back on its feet pretty much in manhattan. in new jersey, they can vote at any location. in the coastal suburbs, this has been an election like no other.

>> let's get a quick look at what they are seeing at campaign headquarters. thomas is in chicago at the obama campaign. and ian is in boston with the romney campaign. >> it is all about getting out the vote. this is where obama used to be a community organizer. and behind the scenes in the last few days, they have twice as many campaign offices across the nation as mitt romney. and in ohio i think they have 131 campaign offices in that state alone. the obama campaign has run

100,674 advertisement. they say they are confident in their ground game. i for the initial response from president obama, he is being met with approval from so many voters. they are saying it has not come back. they are not predicting a landslide, but they are confident they will get over the top. >> let's go to boston now. mitt romney is breaking tradition and is out on the campaign trail on election day. i don't think i have seen that before. >> we don't think it is unprecedented, but you are right. it is rare. his opponent, his critics will say this, a sign of weakness,

almost desperation. there was an e-mail sent out by paul ryan, the republican vice- presidential candidate earlier today saying, it looks as though the democratic vote is holding up. there are many people going out supporting president obama. there is a lot of psychology to explain why you would need an e- mail like that. perhaps it is making sure that supporters and their friends and family get out. but this is a close race. and governor romney give -- an interview to a radio station in virginia earlier in the day in which he said, he did not want to potentially lose by a few hundred votes and think, i don't wanna -- i could have done a little bit more to get out the vote spirit -- the votes.

>> thank you from boston. we're all quite familiar with barack obama ahe t the qu backtes w -- a look back in photos at the two men who are rngniun for the white house. ♪ ♪

>> mitt romney and barack obama, candidates for president of the united states, but husbands and fathers as well. you can learn more about the race for the white house by going to our website. we have a special page with an interactive guide. it is all available at bbc.com forward/-- bbc.com/elections.

thank you for joining us. i'm kathy kaye. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.

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